The Best Smile
by kingslayerwizard
Summary: Percy Jackson has only loved one person. His mother. When his step-dad takes his abuse too public and too far, Percy thinks that him and his mother finally have a chance at happiness. That hope is dashed when he gets into a fight with a stranger and the result alters his life in a way he least expects it to. First fan-fiction, criticisms welcome, no flames please(:


~CHAPTER 1~

His mother was beautiful. Besides her eyes, her very kind eyes, it was her smile that held her beauty for it was large and grand. She had the type of smile that made you feel as if everything was fine, perfect even. It had been years since Percy last saw that smile. She had other ones of course, like her tight closed lip one that made him feel tense, or her small crooked one that made him feel sad, dejected, or her simple open one that gave him some hope. He saw plenty of those smiles. The large one was his favorite. He hadn't seen it for some time, but he would and it would be bittersweet.

School had just ended and he was sulking like he often did as he watched other high school students go about their lives cheerfully. He hated them. Not really, but he liked to think that they were all entitled stuck up assholes because it made it easier for him to distance himself from them. No one liked him either so it really wasn't a problem. Students jumped into cars with other students, got on buses with smiles, and waved bye to the people they cared about. He walked past all of them not acknowledging that there were a couple others like him, because he liked being spiteful. It felt good.

Secretly, he would never admit to this if asked, but he wanted to be one of those cheerful people. They seemed happy that school was over. As much as he hated school he hated home more. The only reason he continued to go back was for his mother. Sighing he hitched his backpack up his shoulder and commenced the walk home.

He was at the entrance of his apartment complex when he got the first prickle of unease. Something wasn't right. A couple of his neighbors were glancing out their windows, eyebrows furrowed and lips turned down. They caught sight of him and their frowns deepened. He heard a thud from down the hallway, followed by a yelp. It startled him into stopping. It was his apartment, the sinking in his gut confirmed it. His heart began to thud painfully in his chest while his face flushed with anger and dread. Dropping his backpack and moving forward without a second thought he made his way to apartment E, fearful of what he was going to find inside. The door was cracked open, splintered near the handle, and beyond it he could hear someone, his mother, whimpering. He had never heard her make those sounds before.

Slamming the door out of his way, Percy ran into the room ready to confront Gabe. Who else would be the cause of those sounds? A fist caught him by surprise, connecting with his jaw and throwing him against the wall to his side. Holding onto the wall, he swallowed his yell of pain and tried to focus on the room. It was spinning. His mom was against the kitchen floor, sitting up against the refrigerator with blood smeared across her face. Gabe was standing across from him, the vein in his forehead pulsing beneath his flushed skin, shaking his fist out from the blow.

"Were you in on it too you little bitch?!" He bellowed, moving towards Percy.

Pushing himself off of the wall he scrambled his way into the living room, away from his mom and away from Gabe who was quickly closing the distance.

"Do you think that she deserves better than me?!" Spit flew from his lips as he yelled advancing. Percy had no idea what he was talking about, or what started this rampage, but he was panicking and desperate to keep him away from his mother.

"Anyone deserves someone better than you!" he responded venomously glancing her way. She was moving towards the door using this as a distraction to get help, but she was crawling; what had he done to her?

"You're nothing but a fuckin' prick and she's just a whore. I'm the best she's ever gunna' to have." He said lunging forward and grabbing the collar of Percy's shirt before he could avoid him. The force of Gabe's weight threw them backwards causing them to crash into the couch where Gabe landed a blow to his jaw again, and then his temple. Before he could get a third hit in, Percy caught him in the throat with a hit of his own and shoved him off him while he was busy coughing. As he struggled to get himself off the couch, he felt a hand wrap around his ankle and yank trying to pull him back. Crying out, he kicked back with his other foot feeling satisfied when it connected with some part of Gabe making him let go.

"You fucking bitch!" Came from behind him before he turned around. His mom was still making her way to the door when he noticed movement outside the window. Where people coming to help for once? He had to stall.

Gabe still had his hand to his throat as he worked to stand himself up, but before he got the chance Percy kicked him in the gut once, twice, and went for a third but Gabe shot forward and tackled him at his legs toppling them over. There were a couple seconds of confusion as limbs tried to injure limbs and one tried to get free while the other clung on. Suddenly hands were around Percy's neck and he couldn't breathe. He clawed at the hands and Gabe's face, but Gabe just let go of his throat with one hand and used the other one to grab onto Percy's. Before he could blink, Gabe twisted his fingers back and one of them gave with a snap that made Percy feel sick, and he would have screamed if not for the lack of air. Tears prickled in the corners of his eyes and he felt humiliated. Had his mom reached help yet?

Gabe let go of his hand before landing a hit to his gut, and then two more before he finally let go of Percy's neck. At this point his vision had started to fade and he didn't have the energy to move even though he wanted nothing more. Instead he began coughing trying to get his breath back in hope that the world would stop spinning. Another hit to his stomach had him choking on air and he gave up hope of hurting Gabe. Pulling his arms up he tried to curl in on himself but with his legs pinned beneath Gabe he had nowhere to go. There was another blow to his head, and another to his arm, one to his ribs, and then suddenly the weight was wrenched from him and he felt light.

Struggling to gather his bearings, he could make out grunts to the side of him. Groaning, he pushed himself over to his stomach minding his finger and ribs, and looked around to find what had happened. Another man, Percy had no clue who, had Gabe pinned to the floor with his arms behind his back like a cop would have a criminal. A plump woman ran over to Percy and hesitated before placing one of her hands on his back and the other on his upper arm helping him stand. As soon as he was upright he shrugged her off and stumbled backwards towards the doorway, to where he had last seen his mom attempting to get to.

"The cops are on their way, they should be here any minute," the woman said, her voice soft. "Your mother is outside on the stairwell, my friend is with her."

Hardly acknowledging her, however rude that may be, he made his way to the door refusing her help and struggling to see clearly. His head was pounding, hell everything was pounding.

Making his way outside, he was dismayed to see a small crowd of people, many of which were peeking through his living room window or surrounding his mom. They were all staring, the girls with hands over their mouths and the men comforting them or simply watching him curiously as if wondering what he or his mom had done to deserve such a beating. He noticed his breathing became more rapid, his vision narrowing slightly at all the attention. He felt claustrophobic but he pushed it aside when he saw his mom. Bloody with tears all down her face, staining the collar of her shirt, she still looked beautiful. When she saw him she began to sob even harder making him feel about two feet tall.

Sirens made themselves heard as they rounded the corner. He paid them no mind as he collapsed on the stairs next to his mom, the plump lady still trying to help him. His mom held her hand thanking her before placing her hands on Percy's shoulders and drawing him towards her chest. He sat there and breathed. It was all he could manage. It was when he looked up at her next was when she smiled that smile. Maybe she was thinking that it was the end of his reign in their lives, or maybe she was just happy that they were not both dead. Either way, it was beautiful.

After that everything passed in a blur. There was a trip to the hospital, where later Percy would recall freaking out when they tried to separate him from his mother. He had a concussion, one that let him skip school for an entire week, a broken finger, sprained ribs, bruises everywhere-the one on his jaw in particular was spectacular. His mom had a broken ankle and a gash on her forehead beneath her hair line that required four stitches. Gabe got arrested but yet his mom refused to press charges. Why? He couldn't figure that out. He didn't speak to her for the entire week he was out of school. Whenever she asked him questions he still only responded with monosyllables. She did get a restraining order though, for the both of them.

Gabe no longer lived with them for they finally got their own apartment without him. They were both jumpy though. The slightest noise could send either one of them into a panic. He found that without Gabe around for them to be wary of, that anxiety was being dispersed onto others things. He was having trouble in school being around a lot of people, men made him wary which in turn made him feel weak and pathetic.

He found out what had sent Gabe into such a rage that fateful day. His mom had been seeing someone else, someone that made her truly happy. Percy was doubtful, and he was angry. All he wanted was for her to be happy, but her being with another man...he didn't trust it. The only men he knew her to have been with, his father left and Gabe beat the shit out of them. The man she was seeing was his English teacher. He _seemed_ nice enough. He thought back to that smile. Maybe it indicated better things were to come. Only time would tell.

~TIME SKIP. 6 MONTHS LATER~CHAPTER 2

Percy built himself a reputation. It was slightly accidental, slightly on purpose. He was tired of feeling weak so he tried to prove to himself that he wasn't. Gabe damaged something in him that night long ago, could have killed him. Despite how hard Percy had tried to gain an advantage. He picked fights with people, won most of them. No one liked him, how could they? He was volatile at best. He had transferred to the neighboring school so that he could stop hearing all the rumors about him and so that he could avoid all the stares that remembered him as a victim. As Poor Percy. No one thought that now, if anything nowadays most people would say he deserved a good beat down. He was disappointing his mother but he couldn't help it. The control, picking fights/choosing them, winning them. It was addictive. It was scary.

None of it mattered though. He saw Gabe on the street over a month ago and despite how many fights he had won he still withered under his glare. If it came down to it he'd still probably get his ass handed to him and he didn't know how to handle that truth. So he did what he did best and pushed it away, going out to pick a fight.

People thought he did it for attention. The truth was, he just didn't know what else to do. At first, after everything happened, he was scared. He didn't know how to handle people knowing about what had been hidden for so long. After a while he grew hateful. He hated that he had nightmares, that his mom had nightmares. He hated how Gabe still lived with them in spirit, despite not really being there. He hated feeling weak. He hated feeling so overprotective of his mom because he shouldn't _have_ to feel that way. He hated the way kids in his school touched each other so easily, like it didn't even matter. He hated Paul Blofis, his mom's new boyfriend, and how perfectly nice he was. He didn't know what to do with it. He hated everything, which in itself he hated.

Then, out of the blue, he got a new, more specific outlet.

It was his fault, indirectly. In his opinion it was the other kid's fault and would always be. Misdirected blame and fear was all he had to hang onto when his life tilted sideways and wouldn't right itself.

It was a fight, because of course it was, that started on one of his random walks around the city. These walks made Percy feel invisible and small, in a way that didn't leave him powerless, but hopeful. As if everyone around him, the thousands of people around him, could make it through life, then so could he. He was walking outside of a coffee shop, when a person stepped out of it, not paying any attention whatsoever due to a conversation they were still having with someone _inside_ the shop, and they promptly, violently, collided. Percy was partially to blame because he had been focusing on his feet, but in his mind that didn't matter. What mattered was the reaction of the asshole he ran into.

Coffee spilt everywhere, and the kid he ran into stumbled, catching himself from falling completely but just barely.

Percy spared him a glance and mumbled an apology, digging in his pocket to give him a couple bucks for a new coffee, but the moment he stuck his hand out to the kid, he knocked it away and got in Percy's face. He backed up to try and put space in between them, but the kid wasn't having it. So Percy placed both hands on the guy's chest shoving him back a couple paces.

"Piss off dude, I didn't mean to run into you." He said turning to keep walking while keeping an eye on him.

"You owe me another fucking coffee asshole." The kid said glaring and taking a step closer to him.

Percy looked at him as if he was insane. "Fuck off. Go cry to someone else."

Things escalated when the kid, who couldn't have been older than Percy but was at least an inch taller, placed his hand on Percy's shoulder as he tried to walk away. Acting on instinct and a dislike of being touched, he turned around punching the guy in eye. He went down with a strangled yelp and Percy turned to walk away again feeling better but guilty at the same time, before his stomach dropped. In front of him stood a cop who took Percy by the collar and shoved him into the railing of the coffee shop drawing some attention. Percy hadn't even seen him, and was thinking that maybe he could make the cop understand that he didn't start anything, he was just responding, before his hopes were dashed. The cop looked over at the kid, before placing cuffs on Percy despite Percy's protests.

"You okay there, Luke?" The cop asked. Luke looked at Percy pulling against the cuffs, and the cop who placed them on him, a stupid smirk spreading over his face.

"Yeah Collin, this little punk just came out of nowhere and jumped me."

"What the hell man!" Percy spit.

The cop gave Percy a once over, his eyes filling with judgement that left Percy self-conscious and angry. He knew he looked like a punk, with the dark clothes and ripped jeans and his beanie. Luke was dressed in a way the Percy could never afford to dress. No one was about to take Percy's word.

The door to the coffee shop opened and all of them turned to look at the man coming out. He had dark brown hair and eyes the color of green not unlike Percy's. He was laughing as he shut the door behind him, but his smile fell as he took in the scene in front of him.

"Collin?" He asked.

"Poseidon? Where is Hermes? I assumed Luke would be with him." The cop responded.

Poseidon glanced between them, taking another step forward. "Nah, a little uncle-nephew bonding time. So… What's going on?" He asked, his voice light, but his eyes curious and hard.

Collin tightened his grip on Percy, swinging them around so they were face to face with Luke and Poseidon.

"This kid ran into me and got pissed and punched me!" Luke stated pointing to the small cut on his cheek bone and the rapid swelling that was taking place there. Collin confirmed the story, and Percy's dread deepened.

Poseidon looked at Percy and sighed looking like he wanted to be anywhere but there. "Is that so? Well I'm sorry kid but you just punched Luke Castellan."

Percy waited. Was that supposed to mean anything to him?

"His father is one of the most powerful lawyers in this city who doesn't take anything lightly."

"And?" Percy deadpanned, trying to hide his fear.

"And," Collin continued, "You can't get away with punching his kid." Luke looked smug and Percy wanted to give him a matching cut on the other side of his face.

"Therefore you are coming with me." Collin said pulling him away from Luke and Poseidon. Percy saw Collin and Poseidon nod towards one another, and Poseidon place his hand on Luke's shoulder, and Poseidon give him a strange, sad look, before he was shoved toward the cop car that he should have seen. His mother was going to kill him.

Little did he know, that was the least of his worries.

~CHAPTER 3~

His mother was so disappointed in him. Which he thought was unfair, but couldn't get himself to disagree. This was the icing on the cake. What was worse was that he could tell she was blaming herself for everything. It wasn't her fault. What were the chances and why the hell did fate keep screwing him over? Luke Castellan was son to Hermes Castellan, cousin to Poseidon Jackson-father of Percy Jackson. His mom wasn't aware that they were in the same state, much less the same city as his dad. Last she knew he was in California, making it big by the ocean and the beaches. When they ran Percy's prints, the information came up, and his mother was called. At this point they hadn't known, not until Poseidon and Luke put it together while pressing charges. Poseidon threw a fit. The result was a drop of charges and an agreement between his mother and father. Safe to say, that was never a sentence Percy thought he'd say. It wasn't one he ever wanted to say. In his mind his father could rot in hell. To be fair, he also never thought he'd actually meet him either. Of course, he thought hysterically, of course his father would have a hand in getting him arrested. How perfect.

The conversation was one Percy didn't get to witness for his mom made him wait with Paul inside the station while they had a conversation outside. It was awkward.

Percy genuinely could not decipher how he felt. On one hand, he had a dad. His dad was making a big deal out of getting to know Percy. But why now, after all these years? He also felt embarrassed, for his first impression was to get arrested. Which also begged the question as to _why_ would his dad even want to get to know him. Obviously he was trouble. Poseidon had gone 16 years without knowing his son, wouldn't it be a better decision to keep on with that path? And what the hell was his mom saying to him? What if Poseidon wanted to spend time with him? What if there became a custody battle? What if Poseidon decided he actually didn't want anything to do with Percy? Did he even want anything to do with Poseidon? He was so confused.

He was going crazy. Paul kept shooting him glances as if to say something but not knowing what. They were sitting right inside the doors, on benches, alone in the hallway except for the cop at the front desk. Percy was slouched in his seat, chewing on his lower lip, with his arms crossed and his leg bouncing furiously. Paul was still, hands folded in his lap, keeping an eye on his mom and Poseidon outside the glass doors. They were completely silent.

An hour of silence later, his mother came back inside. Percy didn't look up as she sat beside him.

"Did you start the fight?" She asked.

He shook his head.

"I believe you." She sighed, a long one. A tired sigh. None of them spoke for a few minutes.

"He wants to see you."

Percy toed a penny on the floor not answering. His stomach twisted at those words, in a good or bad way he couldn't tell.

She pulled his hand into her lap. "Percy, look at me."

Her smile was the small, crooked, small one. "Be it through court, or choice, he is determined to see you."

That just made him angry. Where was his choice in the matter?

"Apparently his entire family moved here a couple years back. He has been looking to reconnect with us, but didn't know that you still held his name so he couldn't find you. He assumed you'd have mine. Or so he says." She said, her eyes sad. "I'm not going to make you do anything, and I don't think he will either. But he wants me to give you his number."

She handed him a piece of paper with 10 digits.

He had been searching for Percy? He looked at her.

"I don't know what to do."

"Think on it." She said with another sad smile. "Percy, I am so sorry. More than you will ever know."

"I told you, it's not your fault. Fate's a bitch."

She shook her head and looked down. Paul placed his arm over her shoulders and held her while she held Percy's hand. What a shit storm.


End file.
